Boston College Athletics
Women's Cross Country Qualifies for NCAA Championship
November 15, 1999 | Women's Track & Field
Nov. 15, 1999
The Boston College women's cross country team has qualified for the 1999 NCAA Championship to be held in Bloomington, Ind. on Nov. 22. The race will start at 12:15 p.m.
The team received an at-large bid by virtue of its successful competition schedule this fall. BC won the annual quad meet with Connecticut, UMass-Amherst and New Hampshire on Sept. 10 and finished second in two other meets (Central Connecticut State Invitational - Sept. 14, and the New England Championship - Oct. 15). The Eagles tied for third at the Iona College Meet of Champions on Oct. 2 and later took fourth-place honors at both the BIG EAST Championship (Oct. 29) and the NCAA District 1 Qualifier (Nov. 13).
Senior Shannon Smith has led the team this season, winning the New England Championship and finishing second at the NCAA Qualifier. She finished in the top 10 five times this season and in each of the last four races. She earned both All-New England and All-BIG EAST honors.
Freshmen twins Cate and Maggie Guiney have also contributed strongly to this season's success. Each sister won her first collegiate meet in her first attempt. Maggie won the Central Connecticut State Invitational and Cate earned top honors at the UConn, UMass and UNH meet, an event that saw Maggie finish second behind her sister. Cate has finished within the top six competitors in four of six races, and Maggie has run in the top 15 in four races.
For two seniors - Smith and Kyla Barbour - qualifying for the NCAA meet marks the third time the two have competed in the event. Both qualified as members of the 1996 and 1997 BC cross country squads. Smith earned All-America honors in 1997 alongside former Eagle great Angie Graham. The two were members of the BC team that finished ninth, the highest showing at an NCAA Championship by any Boston College women's team. Overall, head coach Randy Thomas' cross country teams have qualified for six championships, including five in the past six years.
Indiana University is hosting the 1999 NCAA Cross Country Championship.
